Problems associated with the wastage of food intended for human consumption are well known and the discarding of edible but unconsumed food—avoidable food waste—is clearly undesirable. Interventions to reduce avoidable food waste need to be suitably informed: understanding the causes and consequences of avoidable food waste is instructive in this regard. One hitherto unexplored approach to understand better the causes of food waste is to elucidate associations between the composition of avoidable food waste and the reasons why it is generated. If such associations can be established, data relating to the composition of avoidable food waste can contribute evidence to underpin interventions intended to prevent or reduce avoidable food waste. The aim of this study was therefore to explore links between the causes of avoidable food waste and its composition, and thereby contribute to the development of management measures. Information relating the commonly reported causes of avoidable food waste and its composition (part-consumed, whole-unused and leftovers) was gathered via a series of participatory workshops involving university students. Outcomes of the workshops indicated that individual causes of avoidable food waste rarely lead exclusively to a single type of avoidable food waste, but some relationships were evident. Five of the 13 causal factors explored were considered to lead to all three types of avoidable food waste; a further five were considered to lead mainly to part-consumed and whole-unused food waste. Potential interventions to effect positive change are explored; the value of classifying avoidable food waste to guide interventions was evident, although approaches would need to be aligned with the observed composition of avoidable food waste and the method(s) of intervention considered. Applications of the approach and outcomes of this study are also considered in a policy context. Full article

In this work, the application of Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR: 1000–2500 nm) spectroscopy was evaluated to identify plastic waste containing brominated flame retardants (BFRs) using two different technologies: a portable spectroradiometer, providing spectra of single spots, and a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) platform, acquiring spectral images. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis was preliminarily performed on plastic scraps to analyze their bromine content. Chemometric methods were then applied to identify brominated plastics and polymer types. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to explore collected data and define the best preprocessing strategies, followed by Partial Least Squares—Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), used as a classification method. Plastic fragments were classified into “High Br content” (Br > 2000 mg/kg) and “Low Br content” (Br < 2000 mg/kg). The identified polymers were acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polystyrene (PS). Correct recognition of 89–90%, independently from the applied technique, was achieved for brominated plastics, whereas a correct recognition ranging from 81 to 89% for polymer type was reached. The study demonstrated as a systematic utilization of both the approaches at the industrial level and/or at laboratory scale for quality control can be envisaged especially considering their ease of use and the short detection response. Full article

Due to the serious problem of plastic pollution in aquatic environment, many people reject plastic packaging in favour of glass containers which are considered more sustainable. To avoid misjudgements, the sustainability assessment of packaging alternatives should be carried out with a life cycle thinking approach. In this regard, the study presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of two alternative packaging systems for drinking water: reusable glass bottles and polyethylene (PET) bottles. The case study was performed considering the real data of an Italian mineral water company that bottles and distributes both natural and sparkling water. The environmental impacts of the two packaging systems were estimated with the ReCiPe 2016 (H) evaluation method adopting both midpoint and endpoint approaches. The results showed that the PET bottle is the most sustainable alternative for natural water for many impact categories; while, in the case of sparkling water, the environmental impacts of the two packaging systems are similar and the most environmentally sound solution can vary depending on the impact category. The following are the most significant aspects of the analysis: (1) the number of reuses of a single glass bottle; (2) the distribution distance. Their variation can determine which packaging is the most sustainable. Therefore, a life cycle assessment approach is needed for each specific case. Full article